Smoking Should Be Illegal

Think to yourself for a second. Why is smoking illegal in our society today? The effects on smoking on a person are so awful and extreme, that there really is no reason it should be legal for anyone. Lung disease, cancers, heart disease, and Emphysema are just some of the thousands of harmful effects of smoking. What astonishes me is why anyone would smoke if they know how it destroys their body, and why people are keeping it legal to use in the first place. Many people say that smoking should not be illegal. Maybe for the reasons that it’s a personal freedom versus public health issue or since smoking is very addictive and people become dependent on it. But if what only comes out of smoking is pleasure, shouldn’t the government put health over pleasure?

One cigarette contains over 4,000 toxic chemicals which enter your body as poisons. Since the toxins in second-hand smoke aren't filtered yet, like they were when inhaled from the cigarette, it’s even worse to breathe second-hand smoke. Second-hand smoke kills about eight adults a day from lung cancer and 35,000 deaths per year from heart disease. It is also tied to 300,000 cases of bronchitis and pneumonia each year. Such a little thing can cause so many problems for the smoker and the people around them. But not only does this affect people’s health, but also is bad for our environment.

Making cigarettes adds stress on the environment. In one hour companies that make cigarettes use almost four miles of paper for rolling and packaging of the cigarettes. Just to produce 300 cigarettes one tree is being wasted. Energy and water is also being wasted when making cigarettes. After people throw their finished cigarette on the ground, it will take about 25-26 years to decompose. The chemical wastes from the companies are also dumped into the soil, which is very bad for our environment. Pollution and smoking causes negative environmental effects to our world. But we all do have a choice.

Everyone has the freedom to choice to be or not be a smoker and what happens in public is subject to public judgment. Smoking is a perfect example of this. Smoking causes unnecessary harm to others that have made the choice not to smoke. The government should have the right to put limits on where others are being harmed. This takes away the rights stated in the ninth amendment in the Constitution. So if the United Stated banned smoking, wouldn't it make all of this easier to handle? I believe that question has only one simple answer. Make smoking illegal.

“Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character.” I believe this quote is totally true. It’s saying that if you act a certain way it will most likely become a habit. Then your habit will just become another part of you and will turn into normal daily activities. The one time you try smoking may cause many regrets for years to come. These will become difficult to overcome later in life. If smoking becomes a habit, it is likely to become part of your character.

Nicotine is the element in the cigarette that causes the strong addiction. More than thirteen million smokers try to quit each year, but less than five percent of those who attempt it actually do. A nicotine addiction is harder to beat than most people realize. Nicotine from smoking changes the structure and function of your brain. When the brain stops getting the nicotine it's used to, you begin feeling strong withdrawal cravings. You think you want a cigarette when, actually, your brain wants nicotine. Each puff on a cigarette sends nicotine to the brain within ten seconds. So we have another puff and another. Soon, the brain's chemical structure actually changes. It becomes hooked into wanting more and more nicotine to make the effects last. Then without even knowing it, you are addicted.

So the next time you are about to smoke a single cigarette, remember all of the lives, other than yours, that you are affecting. If smoking became illegal, I believe the world would be safer, healthier and happier. And isn't that what all of you want?

Together as a society we can make a change. All we need is teamwork and a strong voice to put an end to smoking. There are four words you can say, together, “We can do it!”

What do you mean? Where the market's always been heading! Cigarettes have never made like the market "better", only like in the past, the market will stay the same, for example, in most countries, the cigarettes are illegal to be in a TV commercial, In Costa Rica, every cigarette package has to have the picture and a caption saying "Look what smoking has caused" and the picture containing some gruesome images of a guy either with cancer, dying, etc.

I'm afraid that banning cigarettes will be as effective as banning cocaine, heroine, and alcohol. We banned alcohol once. It created the mafia. Cocaine is banned. 35,000 people have died due to drug violence since. Most of our prison population is made up of drug offenders. Banning cigarettes will not stop smoking, it will just make millions of new criminals and create a huge criminal industry to supply them. It should never be the business of the government to legislate peoples freedom "for their own good" People have the right to harm themselves as they see fit.

Banning smoking will lead to a black market and this will mean that the cigarettes are even worse and the government won't recive money in tax to pay for the marginal external cost of smoking - rookie bru

Smoking is legal because if it weren't, the tabacco industry would perish, therefore, cause a major job loss. Think about it. People wouldn't stop whether it were illegal or not. Teens drink. Breaking the law would cause a secret high. I agree with you, though, smoking makes people bad seeds.

Smoking is bad. I do not smoke, I hope I never will. But this is America. Everyone chooses their destiny. They have the right to smoke if thy want to. Even though I am not a smoker, and I abhor smoking, I will fight for my right, and everyone else's right, to choose to smoke if we want to.

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